More and more I see healing stations and ammo stations being used as barricades and deployed to block people from walking past a certain point.
It doesn’t seem like this would have been an intentional design decision, and if it was it’s a horrible one.
Friendlies pass through unhindered, hostiles get caught on their outrageously large collision box.
If they’re going to continue being solid and being able to be used as barricades, they should at least block both sides equally.
Making those solid for the friendly team could lead to troll attempts.
This said, I don’t think the stations blocking opponents is such a bad idea. It may bring some strategy about positioning : will I hide my device for the most help available to my team, or will I use it as a barrage to try to slow down the opposite team but loosing some efficiency as a support tool.
A lot of times, I’m trying to sprint past something or wall jump and I run into the damn ammo station.
On side note: healing stations and other deployables probably need less health, they have more health than Fletcher T-T
… and a better movement than some of them…
And using them to block enemies, I don’t see a problem with it, you still can shoot them?
I see no problem with using your deployable as an obstacle, it makes it easy to destroy and less useful for your team. Also if you’re running into a healing station you should destroy it as soon as possible anyway, otherwise any enemy you encounter will be extremely tough to beat. If you stumble upon a barricade like this, back away, find a point to attack it from without the enemy being able to shoot you… don’t try to get right up on it because that’s what they want, it makes you easy to hit when you’re funnelled into a small place like that.
This is more-or-less people’s way of anticipation for whenever Turtle is released, which when he is this will be much more annoying to deal with. But engineers are designed to change the battlefield, they make things more difficult to attack.
Agreed but only on the basis that blocking friendly is part of the ff-on deal ^^.
Otherwise I don’t see the problem. The only deployable that has more HP than Fletcher afaik is Bushwhackers turret (120HP). And general speaking unlike Fletcher deployables can’t run away from explosions or gunfire. And therefore block you for a second tops.
So no big deal, if its an Ammobox stand near it and use the ammuntion it gave you to destroy it 
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Mhm wait, I guess the real problem with poeople running into them, is the meeleedamage not working correctly on them. So yes, if you wear a cricket-bat you’ll still have to switch weapons. But I guess this bug is known?
So we got a turret, you should 198% destroy before it kills you, some aurastation which you should destroy aswell, because it’ll kill at least your mates in the long way and some ammostation…mhm you probably could easily jump over, but it’s 25xp, too.
Yep all of it will cost you some time, but that’s on the other side, imo a positive effect of all this non-flexible station-thing. I mean, Aura’s station “healing-op” got nerfed, and Arty and Skyhammer still got their 10% cooldown-reduction on their direct-hits for their mates, so something must be on the positive side for these stations.
Surely, minus these people called mates, finally knowing where the station is, and that is is no bad thing, like the ammo- and healthpacks they usually run away from?
Late to the party to post a response to all the opinions, but in short, I guess my only comment is, I’m really curious if this was a developer design decision or an unintended side-effect of something else in the way things were set up.
I get that people like or are ok with how it turned out in practice, but, I think the way it currently exists, and saying “just shoot it” doesn’t really address how unintuitive it is, and as an unlisted “feature” it should either be documented and balanced around or fixed. Personally, as a melee heavy player, I hate it. But that might just be me?